Guatemala Programs

Criminal Law Reform and Anti-Human Trafficking

In Guatemala, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) worked to build the capacity of, and promote coordination between, the National Police and prosecutors to address transnational crimes, such as money laundering and the trafficking of narcotics and other contraband. ABA ROLI focused on these priority crimes as they are frequently perpetrated by well-organized and sophisticated criminal syndicates. The lack of highly capable investigators and prosecutors to combat these crimes would allow impunity to continue unabated.

ABA ROLI incorporated key stakeholders into the decision-making process as full partners through a Narcotics and Transnational Crime Working Group, which included representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, the Public Ministry, the National Police and civil society. The working group advised ABA ROLI on trainings related to investigation and prosecution of narcotics and transnational crime cases, and on prosecutorial process engineering to promote effective management of priority cases.